Skoda Epiq Revealed with Irish Prices, Nevo Q2 Survey Findings, BMW iX3 Irish Range Test, Toyota bZ Touring, VW ID. Polo GTI, Nevo Driving Experience with Bank of Ireland Waterford
Nevo EV News Podcast
Nevo EV News Podcast May 19, 2026
Skoda Epiq Revealed with Irish Prices, Nevo Q2 Survey Findings, BMW iX3 Irish Range Test, Toyota bZ Touring, VW ID. Polo GTI, Nevo Driving Experience with Bank of Ireland Waterford
The BMW iX3 (G08) is an electric SUV from BMW. It runs on a battery instead of gasoline and is meant for normal driving, including longer trips. The podcast mention suggests it was used on a real route to see how it handles everyday travel.
The Toyota C-HR is a small SUV-style car. It’s designed for everyday driving and fits into the compact crossover category. The podcast is mentioning it alongside other Toyota models people may be interested in.
The Skoda Epiq is Skoda’s smallest electric car. They’re saying it’s compact on the outside, but designed so the inside feels roomy and easy to live with.
The Dodge Journey is a larger SUV-style car meant to carry people and luggage. It’s built for everyday family use, with space for passengers and cargo. The podcast mention sounds like a question about the vehicle.
It’s the “shared EV building system” Volkswagen uses for multiple electric cars. The idea is that different brands can make different models, but they’re built on the same underlying EV design.
Term
t-shaped lights
“T-shaped lights” means the car’s headlights and/or rear lights are designed to look like a T. Designers do this so the car is easier to recognize quickly.
The Honda Element is a small SUV made for everyday practicality. It has a simple, upright shape and features designed to be easy to use and clean. People often talk about its distinctive front and rear styling details.
Real-world range means how far an electric car goes in normal driving, not just in a controlled test. It’s based on what the car actually used while you drove it.
EV efficiency is often expressed as energy used per distance (here, kWh per 100 km). Lower kWh/100 km means the car uses less energy to travel the same distance, which improves real-world range.
A driver assist system is technology that helps you drive, like warning you or supporting speed control. Here they mention it using speed sign information to manage the car’s behavior.
The Volkswagen Golf is a popular small hatchback. It’s often offered in different versions, including performance-focused ones like the GTI. The podcast is discussing a Golf GTI that’s being introduced with an electric approach.
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Welcome back to the Nevo EV news podcast. If it's Tuesday, it must be Nevo EV news day and this week's episode
We're going to be chatting about our most recent Q2 EV sentiment survey where we surveyed over 1,000 Irish drivers EV drivers and non
EV drivers we also today released videos and prices for the Skoda epic their smallest electric vehicle today and
Most affordable electric vehicle today last week
I was driving the BMW iX3 and we did Lusk to Sligo, Sligo to Limerick and then back up to Lusk and a really amazing
range and efficiency
The id Polo GTI was launched since we spoke last and we also last week have the Toyota media morning test drive event where they
allowed us to drive all of their electric vehicles the
BZ the BZ Touring and the CHR plus but we were very much interested in the BZ Touring which we hadn't had
Drive of before we did see it in Brussels last but by no means least with an amazing event in Kildare a couple of weeks ago
And this weekend on the Sunday 24th of May we're down in Waterford for our Nevo driving experience and partnership with Bank of Ireland
For those who don't know my name is Derek Riley on this podcast
We chat about all things electric vehicles
Nevo's Ireland's only dedicated EV platform and we were covering where we were this week what we've been driving and what we've been doing between the
Podcasts if you haven't already subscribed or followed us wherever you're listening to please do so and if you enjoyed the episode
Please leave us a rating and comment. It really helps us out and it doesn't cost you anything
So we get stuck in straight after the ads
So the Q2 EV a sentiment survey from Nevo was released a couple weeks ago
And we asked the questions that other servers and aren't asking because Nevo's the home of Ireland's home for electric motoring
the findings of the Q2 which is
The second quarter of the year over a thousand respondents all across the country every single county was covered and
We really highlight to the fact that there is a reality gap between the lived experience of EV owners and the hesitations for those yet to make the switch
The headline figure reveals staggering
94% satisfaction rate among current EV drivers who state that would change to an EV again if they had to buy a car today
That satisfaction is underpinned by reliability
97% of owners reporting that their EV is as reliable or more reliable than their previous combustion engine vehicles
Despite what you would see on some social media platforms people out there that are repairing cars
There's a small bit of fear mongering happening this data proves that once Irish drivers make the switch
They don't look back
The challenge now is addressing the price and educational barriers because 60% of non EV owners who plan to purchase the review
Within the next 24 months
By providing transparency such as real-world range we can accelerate the transition for the remaining skeptical drivers
I was quoted and saying
So really it's about while public perception often focuses on range limitation the survey results tell a different story
Nearly 100% of EV owners agree that their vehicles range meets their daily needs most of the time
Furthermore Irish drivers are pushing boundaries half of those surveyed have driven a 400 kilometers on a single journey
With 7% of the people that we surveyed had passed a 700 kilometer journey mark
Financial pressures remain a primary driver for transition one-third of non EV drivers cited recent fuel spikes as a considerable influence
And why they're considering going electric
This transition appears to pay off as 9 out of 10 of actual EV owners report that maintenance costs are cheaper than their previous petrol or
diesel cars
Despite the high satisfaction amongst actual EV owners barriers remain for the
28.5% of respondents who do not yet own an EV the top three concerns holding their back where in their mind the initial purchase price
Future future vehicle depreciation and then waiting for new new technology pre-owned EVs market shows promise with 34%
Survey planning to a used electric vehicle and 44% saying that they'll purchase a brand new electric vehicle
23% of those people surveyed are not yet or yet to the side
The survey also highlighted an emerging interest in vehicle to home technology
92% of Irish EV drivers that we surveyed are either interested in using their vehicle to power their home or want to find out more
Only 10% citing safety concerns
So that was our Q2 EV sentiment survey across the island of Ireland and really the headline was 94% of drivers
EV drivers would happily go back into an electric vehicle today Tuesday at the 19th of May
We would have seen the Skoda epic
Announced there are two videos up on the Nevo EV review channel over on YouTube if you want to have a look at us
There is the sport line version and there is the first edition version
So pop over and have a look at that in Jetson red. Absolutely gorgeous. We also got prices
From Josh and the team over at Skoda the epic choice. Very good. Whoever came up with that name
You know, you are epic choice is that's the trim level essence selection and sport line
So the entry level 38.5 kilowatt hour battery with an 85 kilowatt electric motor coming in at 24,559 euros
then going all the way up to the 56 kilowatt hour battery comes in two different battery sizes and
Three different electric motors that has a 100 and fifty-five kilowatt electric through all front-wheel drives
That one now is the top trim sport line at 37018 those prices are excluding delivery charges
I've earned around 700 and fifty euros
So for under 38000 you can have it all singing all dancing Skoda epic and really what you're starting to do then is
Do you want that size of car? Should you go for a L rock?
You won't get the top trim but these are the kind of there's a crossover in size of batteries trims, etc
except for but a starting price of 24500 and 59 is really good for
The epic their B segment SUV their smallest electric vehicle and they're most affordable. So now we've got the epic
We've got the L rock
We've got the Enyaq and we will soon on the channel in a couple of weeks have the Skoda peak
Which is their seven-seater so make sure you stay tuned for that
I've already had a drive up on the channel about that, but staying with Skoda epic
We have a couple of interviews with the interior and exterior designers from Skoda when we were at the event in Prague
So let's before we do that. We'll have a quick outbreak and then we got straight into the interviews
My name is Julian and I'm the lead interior designer on the epic
Yeah, the second French person I've met today if you listen to another podcast you'll hear the peak
Exterior designer is also French. Yes, we have a small French community
Very good. Are you which go there for long?
10 years now
And how is your check?
Rosumi Maliczeschi really the basics like
Yeah, just really basic. It's quite a difficult language. So I have to say okay
Yeah, and so we're here today to talk about epic
Skoda smallest electric vehicle exactly. Yeah, but I don't find it small
I think the proportions you've done a great job of people are looking for B segment SUV
And it is really Skoda and it is a beautiful EV. Can you tell me a bit about the journey? Yeah, actually?
Yeah, we are really happy as well because this is really the feedbacks we got like people are surprised at this car
I think he's even slightly shorter than the kamek and gives really disimpression of a bigger
Car, so we are really happy with it and yeah to be honest
So if I focus a bit on the interior design, but as well of course the rest of the car
We are really happy with that car because was for us the first fully I will say modern solid car and
Yes, so it was in terms of design a nice new blank page somehow and we were really happy that we could
Had a kind of white card like to
Design it as we wanted so what we wanted for this car was as well to have something I would say quite
Honest like a honest product and really like
Functional but still of course with the correct balance of stylish
But we had really the practicality in mind and really when we designed it
We had in mind really simple volumes like what you could see already the vibe from the exterior
But for interior for example the dashboard we have this really horizontal monolithic rectangle
so the idea was really to have something really calm and
Making really bringing value into the spaciousness I would say so really we designed it in a way like
You can see later on this kind of belt feeling around the car
So really to design it like a lot with a lot of roominess in mind
and what we really kept in mind as well was all the
Simply clear idea. So this was as well for us a small
Task we gave to our self and with a lot of brainstorming how to try to make the life easier into the car and
We are happy with a lot of functional idea especially in the console
But as well using some element for example like the ambient light if you might have seen for example the ambient light in the door
Decorative one when you open the door immediately becomes red and the cyclist can see this red strap. Yes, you know, so
Some kind of it doesn't cost so much extra money
I would say to develop but you have to think about and then to program it
So we were really happy like to have a good teamwork and as well with the exterior team was really nice because
We could really work hand-to-hand and trying to have something harmonious
Which time-to-time in automotive is not always the case to have an interior and an exterior which are fully talking together
So we are really happy. We'll see the overall product and we'll see kind of honest and we hope harmonious
You're because it's on the M.E.B. Plus platform Volkswagen group are going to be sharing this across the Cooper Ravel
ID Polo, but probably the closest in size and shape is the ID cross and so but I find with the Skoda it still its own type of car
Journalists will know that underneath. It's the same platform
I think consumers will know it's a Skoda, but also you've tweaked it slightly so you've a slightly bigger trunk as well
So bigger storage so a lot of practicality there, but the styling of it is very rugged SUV
Exactly and somehow we really like
Yeah, we wanted to keep this Skoda vibe and really
Keeping what it makes a Skoda a Skoda somehow and we as well really worked with the designers from the other brand to really see like
His brand having his own identity. So somehow we work together, but in a way that we could
Differentiate each other, you know, so having really each of us our own identity
And then as you said you don't have this feeling of a common platform maybe but it's really a Skoda
Questions I always ask my designer for interviews is number one. What was the biggest challenge on the interior that you were looking at?
Somehow for us was as usual maybe like the cost okay
Like there's always of course like this car was targeted from the beginning to be as really most attractive price as possible
So that means of course in terms of design it can the more design you can somehow apply the most costly
It could play so we were really playing with the challenge of the cost
But somehow we believe it was a good exercise because when you have this in mind
So you try to find clever
Solutions which are the end can make the life easier for the user but having this in mind is maybe one's constraint with greater design challenge
Last question if you look at all the different elements of your interior you and the team
What's your favorite element overall if you were to pick one? I know it's very difficult to answer, but I
Will say about the dashboard maybe
General feeling aesthetic wise I will say I'm really happy with the dashboard shape because usually
We praise democracy into the interior of the car in Skoda
We praise like always we want symmetric symmetricity for the same value, but when you have a more standard car
You have always for the driver of the vehicle or so you're always but not fully symmetrical
And this time I will say style wise in terms of challenge we achieve to have really symmetrical car
And after in terms of usage I will say I'm really happy as well with the
Console because despite the the size of the car and the size of the console we achieve to really
Make it as clever as we can and I believe maybe as well aesthetic as well
So console was a long nice challenge, but I'm happy with this part as well
I met you a couple of minutes ago. We're looking at the Skoda first edition at peak
We won't get this car in Ireland and I always look to see them at the press launches because left-hand drive
They're limited edition and they're gone before we changed right and right, but the orange elements the orange flash
That must be great to see on the road because it is a very unique limited edition car
That's true at the end. It looks really nicely appealing
Yeah, and yeah, I understand because somehow designed and has a bit more freedom on the first edition
especially from our colleague from color entry, but I know for them it's like
Yeah, they can release the horse
Okay, it's cool the brand is it's a bit smaller the month so they can go a bit more crazy for this appealing
Yeah, perfect. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks. Yeah, thank you. Hello, my name is JJ and I make
extra design of the epic
And she got us most affordable and smallest B segment SUV electric. Yes. Yes a nice challenge
Yes, it was quite
Challenged always and also it was the kind of first
modern solid
production car from the straight new strategy our new strategy and
We wanted to you know, I always thought first is most hard. No pressure
But yeah, it was challenge
You've done a great job with that modern solid because we would have seen the tech deck with
Elrock and then the updated en-yac, but now we also have the t-shaped lights at the front and the rear
So it's going to be very stylized and stale on the road people are gonna know that's Ishkoda because of what you're seeing
And not just with peak, but also sorry epic, but also with peak. Yeah. Yeah, but yours focused on the epic. Yeah
Yeah, and so B segment SUV. I really like the elements at the bottom of the front and back where you've got the 8
Can you tell it just to make it look a bit more rugged was that the element?
Was that the reason why we designed those like that in the in the bumper and the grill? I mean the horse. Yes
Yeah, horse. Yeah, yeah, basically the idea was from the kind of inspired by cycle helmets
Yeah, which is a you know, helmet has some kind of horse, you know, which is nicely designed
or so with the functions at the same time it has
It's the concept like to wait for aerodynamics or so all the functions together or so it gives kind of outdoor feeling as well because the car
you know
Different like different from peak is more for young family young generation
you know more characteristic or more kind of a chunky feeling we want you to give the car and
Somehow the idea was from vision 7s. Basically it has similar elements
But we want you to use for the epic
Instead of a peak because this is more kind of a luxury more kind of
Premium direction. This is more for as I said, like chunky feeling more
Rugged robust or so the clamping style as well the this regional idea is you've done a great job with the proportions of it
So it's slightly shorter than a kameek bush
Interior space is bigger than the kameek. Is that right? Yes because of that electric platform. Yeah. Yeah, basically
Yeah, it's more kefford. I can say because of this as you said, this is more electric platform
and it's slightly higher and slightly wider and
So as I said, it's shorter than kameek, but the trunk space is much bigger. I think more than 50 liter. Yes 475
Yeah, yeah, it's really so practical. Yeah, it's so practical. I can say
I love the design. color. We were looking and I was sent here a colleague on the interior design that
first edition
As a designer, you get to show some color and you get to put some elements on it
That wouldn't be on the standard edition that we're going to look at that
We won't get this at ireland because of right hand drive, but
As a designer, you must really enjoy the first editions. Yeah, we did we did
We picked orange color. It's just I think it's really pretty nice. I think it's really nice because
We are always somehow first we thought it's always try to use the green, you know, but
I think in the end the orange is really characteristic. So for me, it's also
kind of
Also give it a little bit more colorful touch and there's some more recognizable on the road and we liked it
Your favorite element or your favorite design angle from the exterior. What would that be on the in the epic?
You mean the angle angle or elements, which would you prefer?
Well, everything
A good politician
But if you had to select one, but if I picked a select one, I can say
Maybe it's a bit smaller part, but the air curtain on the front
Okay
It's somehow for me was one of the kind of development as a next step
And also as for the design or says for the air engineering as well
because
Maybe we can imagine you can remember this. I don't know or not, but
usually there are
There is a
Vertical air curtain was it for I mean most of the car on the road
But we thought it somehow
It's always one surface
Edit is more complicated
Or so we want you to simplify
And also the as as you know, our strategy is solid looking and it should be simpler on the corner
And so because of that we try to remove the air curtain, which is like I mean
Not typical way is more like
Hide under the black area. Okay with the angle like this not the totally vertical
And was quite challenging because it was really not for us
Not I mean not usual. Yeah, not usual. Exactly. Sorry
Not usual. And so
And to make a nice air route, you know, it was a real world quite challenging
You know quite this many discussion with the engineers always like yes, yes
But in the end it was helpful for reduced this coefficient drag
This was kind of I think it the the number is quite under the target we had before very good. I think
I think even we thought like
Should be like a coming but in the end it's somehow 25
Less than coming. I think very good. Yeah, so all these little elements add up along the way. Yeah. Yeah
Very good. So for me
It is always should that should be on his design
Authentic design not just looking good should be functional at the same time practical wise or some technical wise
And this element for me is kind of a symbol for that authentic design
Which is looking nice at the same time functional half
If people are listening to this podcast and they want to hear what JJ is talking about the video will be linked in the description of me
Walking around the car and pointing out this air curtain. So JJ. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah. Thank you very much. Yeah
Thanks to Josh, Jamie and Ray over in Scotland for arranging those interviews with me
And Josh for looking after us when we were on the ground and Jamie when we were in Prague
So thanks very much for that last week. I was driving the BMW ix3 and it is all about the range test
I took it from lusk all the way up to sligo then down to lemurik and then back up to lusso a nice triangle around the country
nearly
670 nearly 680 kilometers and all I needed to put into it was 20 kilometers
It had an efficiency of 16.5 kilowatt hour and it has a 108.7 kilowatt hour battery
16.5 kilowatt hour per 100 kilometers and so that gives you a real world range of I think it was 659 and I needed
679 so yeah 20 kilometers all I need to put into it
Really great efficiencies that video is doing really well over on the youtube channel
So if you're interested in the ix3 and real world range the driver assist system in the BMW ix3
Its speed signs and it goes to the maximum speed
So lemurik up the Dublin if it was 120 on the motorway it went at 120 on the final page readout
It had a average speed of 80.1 kilometers per hour
But that's me starting off here in my house in this day that 10 kilometers an hour
You're then going up to the 50 kilometers an hour 60 80 and then up to 120
So those urban drives drive down that speed average speed
Somebody said to me I want to see this at 100 kilometers an hour average speed average speed
But they didn't understand how average speeds work and you don't start your journey at 100 kilometers an hour
But I'm very impressed and the fact that you can get that around that far around the country on one charge
So if you're interested in that I'll put that link into the description as well
I was away at another event and so I couldn't make the voltswagen id event
And it was it's time to voltswagen id polo the gti
And nevo md simon and trichetti. I got a chance to have a look at that. So that video is also up on the channel
We don't have a price on that yet
But really taking that gti first time it's been used on an electric
And so I had go over him look at that gorgeous red
There's also a silver one there some people are common that love to see a black one with the red highlights
Which is really traditional voltswagen golf
Kind of gti kind of stuff. So that video is over on the nevo ev review channel as well
Last week we had the taota media morning test drive event
And where they allowed all journalists to come in and test drive their taota chor
Which i've got three or four videos up on the channel now the taota bz
And other markets if you're listening if you are listening from outside of ireland jump into the comments on spotify or apple
and let me know where you're listening from and
But specifically we were there for the taota bz touring prices in ireland coming in at under 44 and a half thousand euros
An absolutely ginormous class leading 690 liter bush
Visually that's four large suitcases. So large families have families with dogs
Taxi drivers, they're going to be all over this. So the taota bz touring first drive is up on the channel
I had a first look of that as mentioned already in brussels at the motor show a couple months back
But it was nice to have it up on the channel
And I will be doing a range test coast to coast in that for the june bank holiday weekend. So stay tuned for that
the
Sometimes I wonder about the coast to coast and the range test, but a lot of people are interested in them
They want to see the real world range and see what's happening. So there will be
There will be a video up on the channel for the bz touring range test
Last but by no means least hopefully you're listening to this before the weekend
And if you're in the sunny southeast and knocking around the waterford area
We're going to be doing our nevo driving experience in partnership with bank of ireland on sunday the 24th head over to nebo.ie
To register for your free ticket adults just need to be registered kids go free and we've got lots of evs makes models local dealers
Test drives cars inside in the amazing sctu arena
And also we're going to have some stage talks spread out through the afternoon. So if you're
Considering going electric you're about to go electric or you're up and running and you'd like to some more tips and tricks
We're going to have some great experts up on the stage at me chatting about it. So that is this week's nevo
ev news podcast as mentioned, please jump into the comments like
Share with your friends and I look forward to speaking to you next week. Thanks very much
About this episode
Nevo EV News Podcast pulls together Ireland-focused EV updates: Nevo’s Q2 sentiment survey shows strong satisfaction among current EV drivers and near-universal agreement that EV range meets daily needs most of the time, alongside rising interest in vehicle-to-home power. The show also recaps the Skoda Epiq reveal with Irish pricing and practical details like battery options and trunk space. Range and efficiency are tested on the BMW iX3, while Toyota bZ Touring and other events are previewed.
Welcome back to the Nevo EV News Podcast. If it's Tuesday it must be Nevo EV News Day. My name is Derek Reilly and on this podcast we chat all about EV. Nevo is Ireland's only dedicated EV platform and we'll be covering where we were this week, what we've been driving and what we've been doing between podcasts. If you haven't already subscribed or followed us wherever you are listening please do so and if you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and comment, it really helps us out and it doesn't cost you anything. Let's get stuck in.
